A Whole New Journey
by Oshablade
Summary: When Professor Oak asks Red and Blue to team up and compete in the world's first Co-op Pokemon League using the new Pokemon Chespin and Fennekin, they can't resist the offer. Things are smooth sailing, until a group that we know returns... Yes, its Team Rocket! And they're after an Eevee for some reason. Can Red and Blue protect Eevee, stop Team Rocket, and win the Co-op League?
1. The Last Journey

A Whole New Journey

Chapter 1

The Last New Journey

Red stumbled through the doors of Professor Oak's laboratory to his knees, panting heavily with his tongue out and his face covered in sweat.

"Professor Oak," he breathed heavily and heaved a little "you called me?"

Blue turned around in a nearby chair and met Red's exhausted face with a smug smirk. "Well, I didn't know gramps called the Geek Squad" he said with a cheeky grin and clever snicker.

Red held up his index finger as he tried to catch his breath. "Just give me a second to stop dying so I can insult you."

Blue pointed and laughed at him. "Yeesh, you sure are out of shape!"

Red clenched his chest and fell over. "Oh god, I think I'm having an elaborate series of heart attacks!"

Blue slapped his forehead and sighed. "You know you need to lay off the meat-filled rice balls, Red."

"OH GOD NOW IT'S TURNING INTO A STROKE" he yelled as his arms started flailing and he started flinging drool everywhere from his mouth.

Blue jumped up from his chair as if there were a fire and outspread his arms. "Oh shut up you drama queen and come give me a hug already!"

Red quickly stood up and ran over to Blue. The two embraced each other as they hugged one another tightly, patting them on their backs.

"It's been so long since I've seen you!" Red said gleefully as he hugged Blue tighter.

"Ah…" Blue grunted "You're crushing my ribs."

Red quickly pushed Blue away and chuckled. "Pfft- as if anything is even in there."

Blue sat back down in the chair and pulled another one up next to him. "So where's Pika at? I know he can't be in his Poké Ball- he hates it in there. I remember figuring that out back when we got our Pokémon mixed up back during the Indigo League."

Red took a seat in the chair Blue pulled up and chuckled again. "Professor Oak told me not to bring any of my Pokémon. And oh yeah, I remember that! You got my Pokémon and I got yours. Boy, yours sure were angry…"

"Hmph. He told me that too. And yeah, and yours were just a big team of softies. But hey, I toughened them up for ya, didn't I?"

"Well yeah, you did. I would have appreciated it if that when I got them back they didn't try to kill me though…" Red laughed. "Are your Pokémon still as harsh and strong as ever?"

"Nope, actually, just the other day my Pidgeot was putting up a fuss because I didn't play with it enough. They're actually starting to remind me of your Pokémon." Blue chuckled a little bit and leaned back in his chair.

Red's curiosity was successfully serenaded by Blue's claims. "Really now? That's pretty nice. I guess that means your Pokémon are finally starting to become cool like mine! My Pokémon actually remind me of yours. Just yesterday I wanted to play around with Pika and Saur, but all they wanted to do was train!"

Red and Blue shared a laugh for a while.

"I guess we're both a little different now, huh?" Red pointed out.

Blue nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we are. I mean, it's been at least eight years since the Pokémon League, three years since the Battle Frontier incident in Hoenn, and three years since we've seen each other."

Red leaned back in his chair and sighed as he stared at the ceiling and began pondering things. "Oh man, where does the time go, dude? We're both already nineteen, and soon we're gonna be adults."

Blue put his fingers into his ears and clenched his teeth together, groaning and whining. "Oh goodness, PLEASE don't remind me of that. That's all my grandfather yells at to me these days. _'You're gonna be an adult soon! You need to start applying to colleges for your Pokémon Studies degree!'" _Blue chuckled to himself. "You know what? One-hundred PokéDollars says he'll come out here and the second thing that he says to us will be _'You know, you boys are going to be adults soon.'"_

Red laughed and slapped his knee. "Fine, you're on!"

Blue sat back in his char again and relaxed. "All the time he's going off about that stuff though… He really wants me to follow in his footsteps."

Red groaned in agreement. "Oh I feel you there on that one. My mom doesn't want me to move out because she's afraid I'll leave her like dad did… And Yellow REALLY wants us to get a place together. Hey, speaking of parents, you never talk about yours." Red sat up for a minute, concerned but at the same time relaxed. "In fact, you know I've been to your house millions of times and the only family of yours I've ever met was your sister Daisy…"

Suddenly, Professor Oak walked out a nearby room, carrying a cylindrical container in his hands. He looked over at the boys and smiled warmly as he sat down and carefully laid the container down on the table. "Well, hello there boys! I'm glad you two could make it here today."

"Hey Professor Oak, long time no see." Red smiled.

"So gramps, whatcha got for us?" Blue asked.

"Well, you know, you boys are going to be adults soon, so I thou-"

"GOSH DARN IT." Red yelled as he reached into his pocket and handed Blue his one-hundred PokéDollars. Blue accepted the money happily and chuckled to himself.

"So I THOUGHT… Before you two grow up, you could have one final adventure together." Professor Oak smiled his cheeky smile as he pressed the button on the container. The screen on the container opened and three gold-colored Poké Balls rolled out onto the table. The boys' faces lit up with excitement, their nineteen year old hearts racing, bringing back memories from when they were kids.

"Oh no way!" Red said in disbelief.

"Are you serious?!" Blue nearly choked.

"Now, now, before you get all worked up," Professor Oak reassured them. "these Pokémon are brand new. No records or data exists of these three; not even the Pokédex could recognize them. As far as I know, they're an entirely new species! That will make your journey all the more fun, but all the more dangerous. You must treat the Pokémon you choose with the upmost care and delicacy."

Red and Blue kneeled down to examine one of the balls. They could see a little blue frog-like Pokémon with skinny arms and what looked to be a soapy-like substance or membrane around its neck.

"So what are their names?" Red asked.

"Well, the one you're staring at is Froakie, a water-type Pokémon. The one to your right is Chespin, a grass-type Pokémon and to your right is Fennekin, a fire-type Pokémon."

Red scooted over to Chespin and examined it. He saw that it had resembled a hedgehog. It was light brown with a green, hood-like fur that resembled a Scrafty's hood over its head that ran down its back and covered its tail completely. However, it did not run down the front of its body or its arms. There were three large spikes on the top of the hood, and one on each corner of the hood, like sharp corners of a box. It seemed to be able to stand on its hind legs as it had very large feet compared to its smaller, but not stubby, arms.

Blue moved over to Fennekin and gave a good look at it. It strongly resembled a Zorua, only it was yellow and a tad bit smaller. It had one short, but very bushy tail with a red tip on the end. Its ears were large with large, red bushels of fur coming out of them. It had a tuft of fur on each side of its jaws going out and upwards. From the nose down to the neck, it was white fur. It looked as graceful as it was beautiful.

"I choose this one!" both of the boys announced as they picked up their Poké Balls. They looked over at each other and smiled.

"Looks like you've got the advantage again, Blue." Red snickered.

"Now, now, before you two get carried on… Sit down, please."

Both of the boys sat back down with their Poké Balls in their hands, ready to burst with excitement.

"Now, you won't be adventuring through Kanto. You'd raise way too much suspicion with those two Pokémon." Professor Oak said.

"So wait, where are we gonna go then? About half of Unova is still trying to rebuild after that Kyurem incident with Nate and Hugh." Blue pointed out.

"Well, I've recently discovered a new region called the Tokai Region. They've got a Pokémon League, but things are a little different there."

"How different?" Red asked as he leaned in.

"Well, it's a Co-op League, meaning in order to compete in it you have to have a partner. Together, you and your partner would fight, challenge the ten gyms, and earn the right to compete in the league there. And I've already signed you two up as partners."

"Oh wow, really?!" Red's face, even though it seemed impossible, lit up with even more excitement, as did Blue's as they both started jumping up and down and cheering like little kids.

"I can't believe it! This is gonna be so great!" Blue cried out.

Suddenly Red jumped back with an all too familiar look in his eyes. Blue caught on and stepped back as he death gripped the Poké Ball in his hands, preparing to throw it.

"Just like old times?" Red smirked.

"Wait, you two! You don't have time for this! Your boat leaves in th-"

"Just like old times, old friend!" Blue yelled as they both threw their Poké Balls into the air. An explosion of white energy let loose from their Poké Balls as it began to take form in front of them. On Red's side was the cheeky little Pokémon Chespin, and on Blue's side was the graceful little Pokémon, Fennekin. Both of the boys took out their Pokédexes and scanned their Pokémon with them, seeing their learned moves.

"Let's go, Chespin, use Tackle!" Red commanded. Chespin charged and rammed his body like a boulder into a rock into Fennekin. Surprisingly, being at such a low level, she was pushed back quite a bit, sustaining some damage.

"Whoa, that's a little powerful for our taste. Fennekin, use Growl!" Blue quickly yelled. Fennekin jumped up growled a cutesy growl at Chespin, tricking him into lowering his attack which was shown by a red aura around him that pushed him down slightly for a few seconds.

Red snapped his fingers in a little frustration. "Shoot! Well if he's going to go that route, then use Defense Curl!"

"What?! Fennekin, hurry and get a Tackle in before it curls up!"

Chespin jumped up and quickly curled into a ball, surrounding itself in a green aura that increased its defense. Fennekin, whom of which was unfortunately too late to score in a Tackle before Chespin curled up, still charged in gracefully for a Tackle attack that sent him flying through the air, but bounced off a wall and shot straight back at her. Fennekin yelped and jumped up, dodging Chespin bouncing around like a pinball.

"Wow, good job, Chespin!" Red cheered as he reached into his pocket secretively and took out a small, red capsule.

"Fennekin, keep using Tackle and don't let up!" Blue roared.

Chespin had now stopped bouncing around and stood there, facing his opponent with a brave smirk on his face. Fennekin growled and charged at him, but he didn't move. She rammed her head into Chespin's chest, but merely bounced off like a bouncy ball against a wall.

"What?! How can Chespin's defense be that high now?!" Blue grabbed his hair in frustration.

Red fell out laughing. "Well see, when Chespin kept bouncing around, whenever he was ready to hit an object and bounce off of it, he used Defense Curl! So now his defense is through the roof! And with this…" Red held up a little capsule and smiled a smart aleck smile.

"Oh please tell me that's not…" Blue groaned.

"Yep, it's an X Attack!" Red crushed the capsule in his hand, releasing a red energy that shot at Chespin. Chespin embraced the energy and a red aura surrounded him and rose upwards, signifying that his attack had just rose and then some. "Now Chespin, let's wrap this up with Tackle!"

"Fennekin, get out of there!" Blue yelled, but he looked over at her to see her exhausted. "Oh no… All of those Tackle attacks wore her out!"

Chespin hopped up and down for a second and then began charging at Fennekin like a wild locomotive train out of control as he slammed his sturdy body into her, sending her back to smack into the wall. She fell down, tired and defeated.

"Haha, just like old times!" Red gloated.

Blue laughed and went to go pick up Fennekin. "Yeah, just like old times! You've still got it, Red! And now you're even using items too!"

"Hey, you did pretty well yourself! If I didn't have my X Attack, we would have been at a stalemate here!" Red said nicely. Chespin jumped onto Red's shoulder and nearly made him tip over. "Gee, for a small guy, you sure do weigh more than you look…" Red patted him on the head.

Fennekin woke up and looked into her trainer's eyes. "Hey, that was a great battle!" he said as he held her in his arms. She smiled, but then looked at herself and yelped in horror. She saw that her fur was a mess and matted and began whining.

"Uh-oh, looks like you've got a little drama queen on your hands there!" Red and Chespin laughed.

Blue took out his hairbrush and brushed Fennekin's fur. "Hey, don't worry about them. You're my queen, you little fox" he teased her and smiled.

"EXCUSE ME, BOYS." Professor Oak rudely yelled.

Both of them turned to look at him. "Yes?" they both asked.

"Your boat to the Tokai Region leaves in fifteen minutes!" he exclaimed.

"Oh calm down, we'll just run down to the docks and catch it really quick. Nothing to it!"

"But the boat is docked in Vermillion City!"

"WHAT?!" both of the boys exclaimed.

"Oh pfft… We can make it! I'll just call my Aerodactyl to take us there."

"No way, your Aerodactyl is way too slow. My Pidgeot can get us there faster."

"What? You're crazy!" Red exclaimed. "I bet you all of my money back that I'll beat you and your Pidgeot there on my Aerodactyl!"

"Fine, you're on!"

Both of the boys ran towards the door, ready to start their next and final adventure as Pokémon Trainers before they succumbed to the horrors of adulthood and commitment.

As the sun sat in the horizon, the boys flew off as they did so many years ago when they first started. The wind blowing in their hair blew feelings of nostalgia in their faces as they thought back to long ago. Team Rocket… The Pokémon League… The adventures in Johto and Hoenn… All of the friends they met so long ago… And now here they are again, running off like little kids, not even telling their families. But somehow, they knew. Somehow, they always knew their boys would go on one final adventure.

This was it for them.

This was their last journey.

This was the prime of their teenage years.

The Kanto Champion and the Eighth Gym Leader, holder of the Earth Badge on their last run.

Together, not as rivals, but best friends.


	2. Ches

A Whole New Journey

Chapter 2

Ches

As he waved good-bye to his Aerodactyl, Red made a break for the Vermillion docks. He sprinted and ran as fast as his near-adult legs could possibly carry him. He could feel his age wear down his legs as it'd been a long time before he'd ran like that. His heartbeat was pounding in his skull, throbbing like a bad headache as he charged through the town like a madman, leaving chaos and chuckling people giving him bewildering looks in his wake.

"Excuse me!" he occasionally yelled when he broke through crowds of people or jumped over carts of berries that were in his way. Over half of the time, he was in such a rush that all that came out was something along the lines of gibberish or mixed up words, something along the lines of: "Excuse sorry", "Through pass", or "First me".

The sun shined down on the docks in the near distance. Red suddenly felt a second wind enter his body and fill his lungs, completely revitalizing him. Wiping the waterfall of sweat from his face, he ran down the streets and kept running.

"I'm almost there!" he thought to himself as he saw a crowd of sailors gathered around the entrance to the docks. "Excuse me!" he politely yelled as he tried to shove his way through the big, burly men.

The men clustered together, making a big wall of smelly, hairy men that posed as a roadblock for our hero. He tried desperately to break through them, even resorting to crawling under them and jumping into the ocean to swim around them and crawl up onto the docks, but one of the men plucked the soaking wet Red from the ocean and threw him back down on the pavement.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Red shook his fist and yelled at them like an angry old man.

"Aw, look what we have here boys, we caught ourselves a washed up champion!"

Red got back up. His anger getting the best of him, he went in for a left hook, but was stopped at least three inches away by the sailor's long, hairy, and quite frankly grotesque arm. He swung his fists, trying to reach the big, stinky man, but the man simply curled his fingers and flicked Red down to the ground as if he were flicking a fly out of the way. Red desperately checked his pockets for his boat ticket. Finally finding it, he pulled it out and flashed it at them, but all the sailors could do was just laugh in his face and poke fun at him.

"Like we'd even honor _your _ticket!"

"What's your guys' problem with me anyway?!"

Suddenly, a wild old woman appeared. She looked old and fragile, like someone's great-great-great-great grandmother, but at the same time she looked nice and sweet.

"Excuse me, gentlemen" she said in the happiest, but smallest voice ever. "won't you let a kind old woman through?" She took a ticket from her purse and flashed it at them, revealing it to be the _exact _same ticket as Red's.

"Of course!" the sailors happily agreed and kindly let her through them. One of them went so far as to help the woman down the docks.

Red could only sit and watch in pure anger and hate as the woman was led down the docks onto the boat by the men that were blocking him.

Red shot up like Bruce Lee when he gets knocked down and began screaming "What?! Are you serious?! Come on!"

The men stood in front of him, towering over him like bulky, smelly, hairy sky scrapers and laughed in his face.

"Basic fact of the matter is that we ain't too fond of you, kid."

"Now run along before we stomp on you."

"Excuse me?!" Red growled and unhinged a Poké Ball from his waist. "I'm the Champion of Kanto! Like I'd _EVER _take crap from a bunch of sweaty, stinky, and hairy men like you!"

"You're nothing but a washed up has been" one of the sailors spat.

Red chuckled. "Oh, well fine then. Let me put this in words your toddler, beer drinking, non-showering minds will understand… Red battle one of you to one on one Pokeyman battle. If Red win, Red go on ship. If you win, Red go bye-bye. Deal?"

The sailors all nodded in agreement and one of them stepped forward, the assumed leader.

One of them scratched their head and looked around. "Wait, I still don't get it."

"One on one battle with the honorable sailor McMurphy and the washed up Red!" one of the sailors announced. Red paid him no mind though. All he had on his brain was battle.

"Go, Gigalith!" McMurphy burped and roared as his behemoth of a rock-type Pokémon appeared on the field with a big thud as it hit the ground.

Red pulled back and smiled. "I've got JUST the thing for you! Meet one of the six reasons why I'm the champion; go Pika-" Suddenly Red's face turned pale white with fear and horror as he noticed that not his best friend Pika appeared on the field, but it was in fact Chespin. Realizing the shocking truth that he left Pika at home, he screamed in anger and frustration. "No, no, no!" he yelled as he threw his hat down and pulled at his hair.

The sailors looked down at Chespin and one by one like dominos; they fell to the ground, tickled with laughter as they mercilessly teased poor Chespin.

"You expect to beat us with that little gopher?!" one of them pointed and laughed at Chespin.

Chespin's head hung low as he sniffed and drew his tail in between his legs. Hearing the insults as they broke through Red's temper tantrum, he immediately calmed down and walked over to the little hedgehog and kneeled beside him.

"Hey, little guy. I know these guys look tough and scary…" a wave of nostalgia suddenly hit Red like a freight train as he was reminded of an event similar to this that happened eight years ago. He thought back to the Pewter City gym. He had done this exact same thing with Pika.

A tear fell from Chespin's eye and Red quickly broke from his nostalgic trance to wipe it away before it hit his cute little cheek.

"But it's okay! Wanna know why?" Red scooted in front of him and took his paws into his hands with a big, friendly smile on his face.

Chespin nodded in curiosity of his trainer's question.

"Because you're amazing! I've never had a Pokémon that I've connected with so fast; not even my Pikachu! You've got this amazing fire that burns inside you like a never-ending flame. Back when we battled Blue, our first time battling together, and you were bouncing off the walls with Defense Curl, I didn't even tell you to do that! And guess what? Because of that, we won!"

Chespin's face lit up with adoration and happiness from his trainer's words of encouragement and jumped into Red's arms, giving him a big hug.

"Now, Ches, are you ready? Because we're gonna beat these guys together!" Red stood up.

Ches jumped down from Red's arms and stood straight up with his tail out in front of Gigalith, rocked and ready to go. The second their eyes met each other, Gigalith was shocked at the amount of powerful confidence and stepped back in fear. This powerful confidence was probably something Gigalith and his trainer would _never_ understand. And what's the major reaction to something we don't understand? To hate it. Gigalith couldn't stand the feeling Ches gave off.

It suddenly charged at Ches without a single command from its trainer. Red folded his arms and turned his confident smile into a degrading smirk, as if to say "I'm better than you."

Without Red so much as opening his mouth or lifting his finger, Ches jumped up and fired a barrage of seeds like a machine gun from his mouth at Gigalith. The big, rock behemoth roared in pain as the attack rained down on him like acid rain until after five consecutive rounds, it tumbled over like a bag of rocks.

The sailors stood there with their jaws to the ground out of pure shock and fear, not wanting to accept what just happened. They looked into the raging hot, but emotionally cold eyes of the now not boy, but man that stood in front of them.

"Let me introduce myself…" he said quietly as he stepped over Gigalith's body and stood in front of the sailor McMurphy. His glare and his eyes made everyone there feel like they were ants, looking up at a god before them. "Hello, I'm Red, the Pokémon Champion of Kanto. I'll not be taking anymore disrespect from you or your lumps of stink over there and I'll also see to it that no one else does. Now, you've got five seconds to disappear out of my sight or else, I'll not only make you feel like an ant… I'll make you feel like nothing. Ches will personally make sure of that. Isn't that right, buddy?"

Ches jumped up onto Red's shoulder and nodded with a cold glare shooting at the sailors. Red held up his hand, balled into a fist and stuck out his thumb.

"One."

Before he could even consider saying two, the men had already retreated and ran down the streets. Turning to look at them, Red saw a red "R" on the back of McMurphy's shirt and stood there for a second, thinking to himself.

**. . .**

Hastily, he flashed his ticket at the guard standing next to the entrance of the ship and received his welcome package as he ran onto the boat. Not even looking around at the amazing and breath-taking scenery, Red checked his welcome package and saw he was in room one-hundred and eleven. He praised Arceus that he was on the main floor and started desperately searching for his hallway.

After running around like a Torchic with its head cut off for about ten minutes and receiving weird looks from people, he finally found his hallway and began running like there was no tomorrow. As the numbers on both sides of him increased, starting from seventy, he felt like he was running down a never-ending hallway as he looked and saw that it had to have stretched for at least another mile. At least that's what it felt like to him.

Finally after a long, tiring run, Red stumbled into his door like a drunken man and slipped his room key inside of the lock. He could feel the clutch of the lock release as he placed his tired hands on the doorknob and flung it open, falling down onto the carpet of his room. He looked up, praying that he wouldn't see what he thought, but there it was. His worst fear was confirmed when he looked up into the eyes of Blue freaking Oak.

"Hey, loser. Glad you finally made it!"


	3. What A Baby

A Whole New Journey

Chapter 3

What A Baby

"Well, looks like you owe me five-hundred Pokédollars now" Blue snickered deviously as he looked down at his failed, exhausted friend.

"What?! How did it get to be five-hundred? It hasn't even been a minute since I lost the darn bet!"

Blue casually shrugged his shoulders. "Interest rates, buddy. You know how bad the economy is and junk.

Red groaned and plopped down on his bed exhausted with Ches. "Fine, you'll get your money right after I get some rest. You have _no _idea what it took for me to get here, let alone even board the stinking boat."

Blue tilted his head and looked at him inquisitively. "What do you mean?" he asked as his curiosity rose. He lay back on his bed and called out Fennekin to relax with him.

"Didn't you see those sailors out by the docks?"

Blue chuckled a little bit, giving Red a weird look. "Well, there's a truckload of sailors around here, I mean it _IS _the docks of Vermillion City after all."

Red groaned at his friend's smart aleck remark and tried to shoot him a cold, serious look but wound up laughing instead. "Well, I guess what I meant to say is that the sailors down near the entrance to the docks checking everyone's tickets."

Blue looked at him funny again. "You know, I've been here for quite a while,"

"Don't rub it in."

"And I haven't seen a single sailor checking the tickets."

Red quickly sat up and looked at Blue with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yeah, don't you know? Sailors don't have the authority to check tickets." Blue said.

Red sat there, blankly staring at Blue albeit, but thinking. "Why would those sailors try to keep me from getting on then?"

Blue shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "Beats me. Maybe they just wanted to have some fun?"

"But they made me battle them."

Blue walked towards the door and opened it, walking out into the hallway. He stopped and turned back around. "Well if you ask me, sounds like someone didn't want you to get on this boat… Anyway, I'm gonna go explore a little bit, maybe go chick hunting. Don't wait up for me. Oh and watch Fennekin for me, would ya?" Blue winked at him and shut the door.

Red and Ches turned their attention to the sleeping fox over on Blue's bed; her ear twitched as she stretched, sprawling out her little legs on the bed and relaxed.

"Well, I hope you two don't mind but I'm gonna go get a shower. I smell like physical activity mixed with a Stunky. You two play nice now." Red hopped up and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and turned the shower on.

Fennekin rose her head up and looked around the room. She saw Ches sleeping on Red's bed and carefully started at him for a second. With a very mischievous look on her face, she quietly hopped off the bed and tiptoed over to Red's backpack.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Ches said as he looked over the foot of the bed and saw Fennekin next to Red's bag.

Fennekin giggled. "Oh come on, I'm hungry."

Ches sighed. "You know you shouldn't go into papa's bag. Like that…"

"Papa?" Fennekin looked up at him funny. "That kid isn't your dad, Chespin."

"Hey, my name's Ches, not Chespin! And yeah he is! He's the first thing I saw when I when I came out of my Poké Ball!"

"Oh yeah, that's right. You just hatched not too long ago. I guess you never saw any living creature until Red… So that's probably why you think he's your daddy… Hey, that makes you a baby!"

Ches tilted his head awkwardly in confusion. "I don't understand a single word you're saying."

Fennekin dove into Red's backpack and came back out seconds later with a bag of fruit snacks in her mouth.

"Oh man, papa's gonna be real mad at you for that."

Fennekin chuckled and used Confusion to rip the bag open. "You're such a baby."

Ches took another look at the delicious fruit snacks and his little tail started wagging. "Hey, I want one!"

Fennekin looked him right in the eye as she used Confusion to throw fruit snacks into her mouth. "Aw, baby want a fruit snack?"

"Gimme! Gimme!"

"Gimme gimme never gets!" Fennekin teased and laughed as she threw a few more fruit snacks into her mouth. As the last few were about to go in, Ches launched a Bullet Seed attack, knocking them onto the floor on the other side of the room. He quickly ran over and devoured them all.

"Wow, what a baby." Fennekin pouted.

Suddenly, a different and unusual smell wafted into the room. It was an odor they had never smelt before that reeked of extravagant perfume and Oran berries with a tiny hint of Cheri berries. The two turned to the doorway and saw an unidentified boy standing there with the most confused look on his face ever. He was sort of tall and very skinny with a black and red short-sleeved jacket and a yellow backpack. His eyes were ruby red and his hair was very neatly combed over into a bowl cut. Behind him followed a small, but cheerful electric-type Pokémon with big, red ears and red paws.

"Uh…" the boy uttered awkwardly as he looked at Ches and Fennekin. "Well this is totally awkward… I think I have the wrong room…"

Red suddenly walked out of the bathroom with only a bath towel around his waist and gasped in delight when he saw the boy standing in the room. "Ruby!" Red cried cheerfully as he threw his arms around his old friend.

Ruby awkwardly wrapped his arms around Red's bare back, rubbing it slightly and trying not to whimper out of nervousness. "Oh, umm. Red, hi!"

Red pulled away with a big smile on his face. "Wow, it's been so long since I've seen you! Here, let me put some clothes on. I'll only be a second!"

He retired to the bathroom, leaving Ruby alone with the Pokémon. Ruby scratched his head awkwardly, not knowing what to do. He walked over to Blue's bed and politely sat down. Eventually, Red came back out of the bathroom and sat back down on his bed with Ches and Fennekin.

"Well Ruby, what brings you to this boat?"

Ruby looked over at him, trying not to stare into his eyes, completely avoiding eye contact and looking at his chest. "Oh, well umm… Professor Birch signed me and Sapphire up for this weird Pokémon League in the Tokai Region. It's called-"

"- the Coop League!" Red finished his sentence. "Professor Oak signed me and Blue up for it too!"

"Yeah, well I really wish he didn't sign me up with Sapphire!" Ruby groaned as he fell back on Blue's bed.

Red looked over at him sort of shocked. "What do you mean? I thought you really_ liked_ Sapphire…"

"Yeah, well things got complicated!"

"Complicated? Like how?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Come on, try me." Red smiled.

Ruby sat up and looked down at the bed sheets. "Well, after the Battle Frontier craziness, I just started having these thoughts… Different thoughts… Weird thoughts! I started thinking about what it would be like to be with-"

Suddenly Blue rudely barged in, scaring Ruby's Pokémon into his arms.

"There, there, it's okay Plusle." Red comforted his Pokémon.

"Guess who I just found on the deck!?" He yelled happily as he brought in a woman on his arms.

"Err… Who are you?" Red asked.

"Oh come on, as many times as I've scammed you and you borrowed my Blasty, you seriously can't remember me?"


End file.
